Two Talk LPS Articles of Interest

The following are articles relating to language, marketing and other business services provided by Two Talk LPS Training and Consulting Services. Click the links below to begin reading the articles on this page. Another link will take you to the original author's website.

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Translators, Interpreters and Transcribers: Do you know the difference?
Translation is NOT a Commodity: Professional Translators Perform a Complex Intellectual Service
Good News for Translators: Translation Takes Center Stage at Modern Language Association Meeting
Exposure to Two Languages: What are the benefits?
Outsourcing CAD Conversion: Pros and Cons
Technical Writing and Translation: How it works
Quality and Problem Solving: Click this link to read articles from ASQ, the American Society for Quality

Translators, Interpreters and Transcribers: Do you know the difference?
Written by C. Mack McKay of Two Talk LPS

Interpreters speak it and Translators Write It – Transcribers do both!

Sometimes, translators are called upon to do the work of an interpreter or transcriber, or vice versa. These three professions are very similar but they require different, complementary, skills sets.

Essentially, a translator reads a document and re-writes it into another language, usually his/her native language.

Interpreters listen to a speaker (or recorded audio/video) and verbally interpret (~ spoken translation) what is said in one language, and say it in another language.  Consecutive interpretation is performed when a person speaks, the interpreter waits for the speaker to finish a segment of his/her speech or conversation (usually taking notes), and the interpreter then says what the speaker said in another language. With simultaneous interpretation the interpreter wears a headset and interprets at the same time that the speaker speaks, similar to what you may have seen United Nations interpreters do. These interpreters usually work with another interpreter, which allows them to take a break during extended hours of interpreting.

Transcribers follow a process of listening to audio/video, writing what they hear in the same language, and then later translating the written text into another language.  Many transcribers buy special digital equipment to facilitate the transcription process.

Translation is NOT a Commodity Written by C. Mack McKay of Two Talk LPS

The word “commodity” for most people is synonymous with "cheap", "non-complex", and “non-unique.” Most companies in industrialized countries cringe at the thought that their products or brands could be viewed as commodities.

Similarly, translators should cringe whenever a potential client regards translation services as a commodity. The service that professional (emphasis on professional) translators provide is analogous to what an attorney, accountant or even a medical professional provides. Translation is an intellectual process that, done correctly, leaves the target language reader at par with the source language reader.

Translation Takes Center Stage

Science Daily: Exposure to Two Languages Carries Far-reaching Benefits

People who can speak two languages are more adept at learning a new foreign language than their
monolingual counterparts, according to research conducted at Northwestern University. And their bilingual advantage persists even when the new language they study is completely different from the
languages they already know.

"It's often assumed that individuals who've learned multiple languages simply have a natural aptitude for learning languages," said Viorica Marian, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University. "While that is true in some cases, our research shows that the experience of becoming bilingual itself makes learning a new language easier."

In the first study to explore a possible advantage in bilinguals who learned a second language at a parent's knee, Northwestern researchers asked three groups of native English speakers -- English-Mandarin bilinguals, English-Spanish bilinguals and monolinguals -- to master words in an invented language that bore no relationship to English, Spanish or Mandarin...Click here to read the rest of the article

What Are The Advantages of Outsourcing Your CAD Conversion Work?

The article is about advantages of CAD conversion outsourcing.

In today's globalized economy, the question is not "Why outsource?" but rather, "Why not?" When it comes to CAD conversion outsourcing, one is automatically forced to think about the pros and cons of outsourcing the CAD conversion work. Queries like what will it cost me? Is it good for my company? What aspect of business should I outsource? Will outsourcing help me increase my ROI? Why should I outsource my CAD work? Generally occupy your mind. Some companies are not able to sustain the costs of hiring a full-time draftsman, so they prefer to eliminate the cost of a full time employee and they pay for the work as and when they need it.

Outsourcing CAD drafting services offers you the advantage of getting the job done by an experienced professional, someone who understands that you must meet those deadlines to maintain your customer's trust and confidence.

Why should I outsource? Because outsourcing gives you:
1. A technical and functional edge on the competition
2. Lower cost
3. Enhanced performance
4. A better-managed e-business infrastructure
5. Reliability and security

Finish reading the original article by Tina Martyn.

Technical Writing for Translation

Introduction
A big part of technical translation is technical writing. Or that is to say, good technical translation requires good technical writing. The added challenge for the technical translator, however, is that documents are often written with different stylistic conventions in different languages. Simply recreating the style and formatting of the source document in the translation will generally make for a less effective translation.

Translating technical documents isn't like translating literature. There are no cultural cues to preserve, no great literary techniques to convert. What needs to be preserved is the technical content of the document.

For example, say you've been given the task of translating a bicycle-assembly manual. The user of your translated manual had better be able to follow your instructions, and come up with exactly the same bicycle as a person reading a manual written in the original language. That is the technical translator's primary task...click here to read the rest of the original article!

Last updated 2/13/2010